The municipal derivatives carousel has been fast at work in recent months, as several high-profile specialists have either been poached by competitors or fired.
It became clear yesterday that Rhahime Bell, formerly a managing director at UBS Securities LLC, and Dean Pinard, who was a managing director at Bank of America Corp., had also parted ways with their respective firms in recent weeks.
Bell left UBS a few weeks ago, sources said. He was co-manager of UBS' municipal derivatives and re-investment services, but had recently been serving in a scaled-down capacity, sources said.
UBS has hired several high profile derivatives bankers in recent months in what the bank has described as a push to strengthen its municipal business outside the traditional public finance area. Earlier this month, Matthew Roggenburg left his managing director position at JPMorgan to join UBS. Additionally, the firm said earlier this month that it would fire dozens of bankers, traders, and salespeople from its municipals division. UBS did not return calls seeking official comment.
Bell had recently become more involved with real estate investments and might be pursuing business outside the muni market, said one muni derivatives specialist who commented on the condition of anonymity.
Pinard was a manager in Bank of America's municipal derivatives group when the Securities and Exchange Commission and the U.S. Justice Department began their sweeping parallel investigations of municipal swaps, derivatives, and re-investment contracts. Bank of America announced on Friday, Feb. 9, that it had agreed to co-operate with Justice's investigation in exchange for amnesty from any potential criminal prosecution.
The Bond Buyer reported in a Feb. 12 article that Pinard had been on administrative leave with no date set for his return. Bank of America spokeswoman Louise Hennessey confirmed that Pinard was no longer with the company, but declined to comment further.
